Topic: Got a Wacom Tablet

[silicone_milk]

Just bought a Bamboo Pen and Touch since I had some money in my pocket and happened to spot it in Best Buy when I had just went in to get some AA batteries

Crazy fun.

Here's a 10-15 second sketch just trying to get a feel for the tablet. One of my favorite features is the eraser nib on the back end of the pen. It just feels so right and natural.

[kat]

... just went in to get some AA batteries

Ha! they saw you coming Is Bamboo just one size? Don't Wacom do another type of low spec pad as well?

[silicone_milk]

I don't know about the other low spec pads but Bamboo comes in I think two different sizes. I got the smaller one at  5.8" x 3.6" (147mm x 91mm) active working space for the pen (width x height).

I need to double check the pressure levels but I think it's at 1024. I use really small strokes so the working space is fine for me. I'm just having issues with the tablet not registering the pen if I attack it from anything greater than a 45 degree angle.

I like to rest my hand on the edge and use my fingers to move the pen but this gets the pen at around 70 degrees to the surface of the tablet and the taps don't register. So I need to move my arm when navigating to the top portions of the device.

[ratty redemption]

cool and I wouldn't of known that was digital ink, it really looks natural.

can these input device be used for low poly modeling as well?

[kat]

Not too sure about low poly modelling but a good number of 3D artists use them when sculpting high resolution meshes in mudbox, z-brush and the likes. I've only ever tried/owned cheap small pads and was disappointed in them. I think this is one area where you do need to spend the cash to get the good kit, else you just end up wasting money, certainly from an artists point of view where you need the precision.

[silicone_milk]

Indeed. I fired up Z-Brush last night and had a blast sculpting some meshes.

For being such a low-cost device, this thing is amazing. The placement of the buttons on the pen is a bit retarded and I keep accidently pressing them down because of the way I grip the pen but regardless of that, this thing is money well spent.

If you ever get a chance, I really suggest giving it a spin. This thing is quite nice. Percision is great. It had the same levels of pressure sensitivity as the higher-cost models (before the new models got bumped from 1024 to 2048 levels) and the working space is a decent size.

I did notice in photoshop that there will be periods where there will be a lag in input and about half a second to a full second where I'll draw a stroke and it won't show on the screen. I think this might have something to do with the memory settings I was tweaking in the performance section of PS's configuration though.

I think it would be more difficult to do low-poly modeling with the pen and tablet since it's more for detail work than it is for blocking stuff out. However, programs like Google Sketchup benefit from a pen rather than a mouse a good deal.

[ratty redemption]

understood guys and keep us updated please on the various uses you find for this, even if you just post test images. I've never considered using a tablet before but this has got me interested.

[silicone_milk]

Blender doesn't like the tablet. Crashes on startup every single time if I try to use the pen. The tablet can still be connected but Blender won't load unless I use the mouse to navigate and keep the pen away from the tablet.

GTKRadiant doesn't like it much either. Spazzes out on the absolute positioning on the workspace instead of relative positioning which is what it's built to deal with (mice input)

[ratty redemption]

@ milk, understood and thanks a shame

[silicone_milk]

Decided to put some kind of constraint on myself to do some speed drawings. So, each drawing was to be done in the span of one song on Pandora.com and without wearing my glasses 

Result of Nine Inch Nails:




Going to do another one tonight.

[ratty redemption]

@ milk, cool although the 2nd one is very dark for me.

[silicone_milk]

it should be It's a very dark image. Literally. 

[ratty redemption]

understood, just wondered if it was a monitor issue. and I'd like to see more of these monster designs

[silicone_milk]

didn't get to do another one last night. Got distracted with my bhut jolokia seeds that came in the mail 2 days early. Spent today setting up a hydroponic system for these little bastards (world's hottest pepper)

Woke up feeling like a pile of crap though. I'll probably go to bed early tonight.

[ratty redemption]

@ milk, hehe, since I'd never heard of bhut jolokia I thought at first you were telling us you were growing cannabis at home